Friday, December 3, 2010

Bullying

Semester Essay # 8 Prompt 36

Elementary and secondary schools around the country are beginning to actively address the problem of bullies. In your opinion, is bullying an issue that should be addressed by schools or left to parents? Use specific reasons and examples to support your position.

Bullying is an immensely serious subject because it often involves the emotional or physical abuse of one person by another. Alone, bullying in general sounds horrible. Now, imagine this being done to a child no bigger than seven years old by a much older child, say about fifteen years old. If you look at this situation from the younger child’s point of view, it could be one very traumatic experience. Who do you, as the bullied child turn to, your parents of course. Who do your parents turn to, the school of course. For this reason I believe bullying is an issue that should be addressed by both elementary and secondary schools, as well as by parents.

It is not a secret that children do not like to tell every detail about their lives to their parents. Some children might find it embarrassing to tell their parents that they are being bullied for any number of reasons. Others may simply think they will be ridiculed, even more, by their older siblings if it were to be known that they were being bullied. In cases such as these, there is no one else a child can turn to except the school. And why shouldn’t they? It is the school’s duty to ensure the protection of all students on school grounds during school hours. That being said, administrators or teachers can keep a look out for the suspected bully and establish order once again.

In other cases, a bullied child may exhibit the complete opposite behavior. They might not want the school involved at all. Some children may not wish to take it up with the school for fear of being called names and being made fun of by so called friends. Or a bullied child may fear that if he or she complained to the school, the bullying would only get worse. In such a situation, a child may find it more comfortable telling their parents they are having problems at school than telling the school itself. If a child were to come to their parents for help, it would then be up to the parents to address the problem and perhaps have a meeting with the bully’s parents. A bullied child’s parents could also ask one of the older siblings to keep a lookout for their younger brother or sister and intervene when necessary.

No two children are completely alike. Thus, when it comes to bullying, schools and parents should both be prepared. Worse case scenario, a bullied child may not want to tell they are being bullied to the school or their parents. However, if they know they have two options to go to for help it is more likely that they will reconsider and ask someone, be it the parents or the school. Both should be prepared to address the problem and find a solution at any given time. Whatever the case, bullying only gets worse with time and the faster someone address it the safer a bullied child can feel. It is in the best interest of bullied children everywhere to have both the school and their parents be able to address bullying.